Masks
by butterfly collective
Summary: This is just some drabbles after the events of the gallery. Just borrowing the characters.
1. Chapter 1

The silence of the gallery surrounded her like a cloak as she sat on its floor drinking from a shot glass. She'd poured herself a glass from a fresh bottle of vodka abandoned by the bartender who'd left for the night.

Liquid magma down her throat, burning and chilling her at the same time, but giving her a bit of a buzz. Something she needed right now as the shattered pieces of the night lay discarded around her.

The pieces still sharp enough to slide back into place again, not smoothed away like glass tossed about in the waves of the ocean until the edges wore away enough to be held in the palm of a hand without drawing blood.

Too bad she no longer had the will to rebuild the latest puzzle of her life. The night of reveals, the unveiling of masks worn by people that couldn't be seen or felt but still had hid the faces of those she thought she knew.

Derek Wells, the man who'd donated bone marrow to save Danny's life had turned into Julian Jerome, the mobster who'd used her grandson as his own insurance policy to stop Sonny from killing him. A hero turned coward and he'd slipped away like one into the night.

But not without leaving his mark.

She reached her fingers to trace the welts in her neck where his fingers had left their mark, the burn of her mouth from his stubble when he'd kissed her. She hadn't seen that one coming, they'd been playing a game after all.

Only it'd turned into something else…which had pushed them in separate corners as surely as the spilling of truths on a night filled with revelations. Julian had whispered something about seeing her soon while she listened to the sound of his footsteps recede as he left the building.

It hadn't been the first time he'd left her.

More alcohol in the shot glass to spread more warmth in her body. Natasha could handle the vodka much better than she could, and that part of her had receded again after she'd watched him walk away from her so she put the bottle away from her.

She still had to find her car and drive home after all.

* * *

Julian as he called himself now settled into the driver's seat of his sports car but instead of driving back to the MC, he just sat there staring out into the darkness interrupted only by street lights in the distance.

He still felt the taste of her on his lips. The images would have to wait…as soon as he got back to his suite he had to figure out his plan to unveil himself in front of the city.

Music wouldn't soothe him and he'd drunk enough champagne at the party, no liquid courage would undo what he had just done. His eyes closed, shame filled him, the eyes of recrimination that he'd never shake.

She seemed to know him better than he knew himself.

Alexis had been right after all. He had used their grandson, she just hadn't understood why. He knew there'd been collateral damage to his strike back at Sonny. His eyes closed as he pictured the fiery anger mixed with the chill of hurt in Sam's eyes which mirrored his own.

She was his daughter after all.

When she'd walked away from him, the protective arm of Silas around her, he'd charged after her until her mother stepped in front of him.

"You want to talk to someone…you talk to me."

Alexis in full protective mama mode reared in front of him. Derek had been impressed. Julian more so, tugging at his restraints behind the mask to be released.

"You bastard…"

The words that shocked him to the core but he couldn't deny him not even to himself. Too emotionally spent from the night's events, he'd only thought of trying to make Sam understand…but she was gone and Alexis blocked his path.

An Alexis he didn't recognize but Julian did and it was all Derek could do to hold him inside. Now afterward he sat in his car in silence and regret, running the scenes from the gallery inside his head in some endless loop.

Sonny's involvement faded into the background…Ava too as it had been all about the two other women in the room. His eyes, remained on Alexis' until Sam broke his focus. He leaned back in his seat, unwilling to start the car. Really needing to head on back to the MC, call Carlos and get his agenda back on track before it derailed further. All those years, decades spent planning, excising all else that wasn't absolutely necessary from his life. Anything that might mess it all up, take him off track for fulfilling the destiny he'd set for himself.

It had worked perfectly of course until he set foot back in his old haunt. The first couple of days…he'd blended in the canvas which had changed so much since his departure. Fate had other plans, caring little about his long-drawn out strategy, ripping it apart at the seams.

First his daughter talking to him instead of Connie about the bone marrow transplant needed to save her son's life…then walking into the Floating Rib to unwind with a beer after a difficult day at work. She'd been sitting at the bar as she had that night in New Hampshire and after watching her while sipping his beer, he'd walked on over to her.

He'd walked in having bumped the story on the bone marrow drive from his front page. He'd left knowing already finding a way to make amends which led him to get his own marrow tested.

"_That depends on you…you're the match…"_

The odds, 50,000 to 1 since he'd been some random stranger. A few minutes later, the probability of him being a match had increased exponentially when he realized the truth that had changed his life.

If not the trajectory of his plans, because he'd waited so long to return to PC. Nearly 25 years he counted down until weeks became days.

He'd just waited a lifetime longer than that for a family.

* * *

Alexis returned the bottle of vodka on the wet bar and knew she should head out to her car waiting in the lot. Sonny had called off his hit men and Derek…Julian had made it out of the gallery safely.

He'd live to be a mobster another day.

Damn, she thought, I have court tomorrow in the child custody case…the one that had started out as a simple adoption.

Lulu and Dante didn't have a prayer of keeping Connie…no more than she did in keeping her own baby that she'd birthed at the age of 16. When Lulu had told her she thought about taking Connie and going underground…she'd thought about her own desperate wishes. She'd wanted to flee with her own baby away from Mikkos.

In her dreams, she had gotten away from Mikkos and the rest of them, raised her daughter some place safe for the both of them. They'd had a whole different life together.

The prince and his car had never factored into it.

Her face tingled from the brisk cold air which rushed against it as soon as she opened the gallery door and walked outside. The walk to her car encased her in darkness but silence as well as PC had shut down for the night.

Molly would be waiting for her up at home and she didn't want her daughter to worry. She knew her oldest daughter had a man watching out for her as she processed the shock and awe of her own reveal.

As for Alexis, she didn't need anyone to fuss over her or looked out for her. She'd been doing that her own life since…well before she could remember any other life.

But as she searched for her keys, a pair of eyes a distance away watched her anyway.

* * *

Carlos stood next to his own car, wrapped up in a jacket because damn it, upstate New York was chillier than the beaches of Puerto Rico. His boss had instructed him to neutralize the threat to him waiting outside the gallery to take him out. What had happened inside the gallery, well Julian hadn't gone into detail, but the rawness in his voice, no longer smooth as spun silk…well that told him the confrontation between the two mobster bosses had gone sideways.

The woman in front of him unlocked her car and got inside of it, she'd had something to do with it. Carlos knew that as surely as he knew the man who'd recruited an angry young artist with a promise to make his own world right again.

He watched as the car started, and the woman drove away back home, no doubt. Sighing, he got into his own car and headed back to the MC to meet his boss.

As he navigated the icy street, he felt confident that crossing that bridge when he came to it would be replaced by strategic planning in a battle against an opponent more formidable than the reigning mob boss named Sonny Corinthos.

* * *

Julian waited for Carlos to meet him in his suite. In a few hours, his headquarters had become firmly planted in enemy territory. Without the element of surprise he wondered if he'd face an eviction notice in the morning. He didn't care about that, he always landed on his feet after all.

The article that he'd written and held for publication the day his identity came out needed only a couple revisions before the newspaper went to bed. Come morning, the entire city would be reading about the resurrection of Julian Jerome, not the mobster but the changed man.

He should feel confident. Even though his reveal had been rushed, he'd walked away from a dangerous situation, he'd proven to be a much better chess player than Sonny.

Only one person could match him at that game.

He shook his head as he went for some Scotch while waiting for his enforcer. As well as the game in the gallery had gone, that's how badly things had gone with Alexis and Sam. His face had burned with shame, even as his agile mind had kept one step ahead of the man intent on killing him. He felt Alexis' eyes on him most, looking at her kept him centered but also told him she wasn't having any of it.

None of the excuses that spilled out when it'd been just the two of them, the ones that felt weak in his ears now. All shot down as soon as they'd left his lips.

His wheels spinning, unable to regain traction. Even after…

The Scotch burned his throat, his eyes watering. Not his drink of choice but he'd taken it. He had only several hours to work with Carlos to get the plan back on track, beginning with enjoying his latest pawn in the game.

Newly elected DA Scotty Baldwin, back in his proper place again in the story line.

That plan had gone so perfectly, down to the letter as shiny pawn Morgan, simply raw material etched in a life time of bitterness and pain to become another brilliant pawn in his plan.

Two in his pocket now, soon there'd be more.

He downed his scotch and slammed the glass down. Some degree of satisfaction filled him at the battle he'd won.

Until the Scotch warmed more than his body, it allowed a piece of him to relax. The emotion erupting from deep inside him, walled off long ago threatened to overtake him once again, as it had at the gallery. If he hadn't escaped it…

He closed his eyes steeling what threatened to take over, if he let it.

The realization of the battle he hadn't won, the one that had been for more than his life.

The battle over his soul.


	2. Chapter 2

**July 2013**

**Quartermaine boathouse **

_Alexis walked into the Quartermaine boat house, not believing the sight in front of her. She'd gone looking for the man she loathed for one specific purpose. _

_To save her grandson's life. _

_No doubt about it, Franco was a monster, hidden inside a rather insignificant looking man. Such evil barely contained behind this supposedly mild mannered, misunderstood exterior he now showed the rest of the world. The conflicted but talented artist, the man who'd used any such talents to terrorize other people before he killed them. _

_She'd wanted to kill him. After what he did to Sam and Danny, she wanted him dead, her own hands itching to do it. _

_It wouldn't take a gun or a knife. _

_Instead now, she rushed into save him. The sight of Shawn punching him out on the ground while Sonny oversaw it, she knew she had to act quickly. _

_But it wasn't her who rushed to intervene, seeing Franco lying twisted on the ground and blood spilled everywhere. At least not the woman who'd methodically gone looking for him to get him tested at GH, so her daughter wouldn't have to face him. _

_It was the part of her who'd come from a fractured family that despised her, who'd do anything to protect her own. Even if it meant saving him. _

_She got her cellphone out to call for an ambulance. Sonny bellowed behind her. _

"_You're not calling anyone…Alexis he's fine…"_

_She yelled back at him, more determined, that Franco had been beaten to a pulp by his hired thug as she got on her feet. _

"_Grab her phone…"_

_Shawn moved towards her to do just that. _

"_Alexis give me the phone…"_

_She didn't back down. _

"_Don't you dare…"_

_Sonny got in the act, lunging for her. _

"_Give me that phone…"_

_She'd handle the both of them and she locked eyes with Shawn. When it came to family, Natasha never backed down. _

"_Is this what it's come to? Go ahead…you going to take me out too?"_

* * *

**General Hospital **

She stood in the background watching carefully as doctors and nurses tended to Franco and stitched up his face until it resembled a patchwork quilt.

A curious chain of visitors dropped by to speak with him. Kiki, his daughter along with Morgan…followed by Dante there on police business. But with one glance, she and Franco had decided to keep quiet.

Dante asked what she was doing here, if she were his lawyer…or something. Indignation filled her met by revulsion.

Still she so badly needed him and she hated herself for it. She put on her disdainful face, not that difficult.

"Oh god no….I brought him here… I found him."

Franco insisted he'd walked into a door, over and over again…but Dante thought it had a name.

Sonny Corinthoes.

Still neither Alexis nor Franco would break their silence. God she'd loathed being forced to protect him and Sonny. But Danny's life might depend on it and that trumped everything else.

Then the icy blonde woman sashayed in, who seemed to cozy up to him but Alexis didn't buy it.

Ava Jerome.

Something in her said otherwise despite the concern lining her face, the sweet talk. The tight grip she held on Franco's neck, the venom in her eyes painted a different picture. Both reminded Alexis of a rattlesnake, coiled up and hissing poised to strike. But if Ava had homicidal designs on him, they'd have to wait until after his DNA sample was removed for testing…and possible use.

The woman had mistaken her for the nurse, then her eyes brimmed with sympathy as she said all the right things about Danny's illness. Alexis had thanked Kiki along with the other blood relatives who'd been tested.

The other woman had smiled in return, absently stroking the back of Franco's neck with manicured fingers.

But underneath it all, Ava calculated to her advantage. Make no mistake about that.

* * *

**Metro Court **

_Derek Wells sneered at the woman blasting him with his handling of employee Maxie, who he'd caught listening in on his phone calls. _

_The one where he'd been called by his real name, Julian. _

_He had disguised his tracks carefully, devoid of anything leading back to his old life while he rebuilt his empire, focusing years on crafting the perfect legitimate front what was not. But in a moment of carelessness, he'd nearly been caught in his own perfectly crafted duality. _

_Unmasked so to speak, by a young girl, an airhead really who worked for Crimson under Connie Falconeri without hardly doing any actual work. He figured she'd been hired as a favor by Connie to someone else. Just one of the many employees he'd have Connie pink slip before the week was out. _

_He knew before this latest interloper in his office opened her mouth, she was part of the collection of women belong to Sonny Corinthos, his harem of molls. He'd done his homework after all. _

_Olivia Falconeri. Loudmouthed and opinionated, he wished he'd had a pair of earplugs while she shrieked at him. He knew she lacked intellectual gifts and sophistication, just the way a man like Sonny liked his women, particularly the ones he married. All bark and no bite, it hadn't taken much to disarm her without breaking a sweat. Too bad she didn't realize who she was playing with…not that he'd tip her off. _

_A doormat and bed warmer most likely, or one on deck in case he tired of that head case in high heels, Connie. Sonny went through his molls like some men went through cigars, though some of them returned for more of the same. _

_She put her hands on her hips clearly thinking she had the upper hand with him, once she'd called him mook and ranted at his treatment of her grandchild's baby mama. _

"_If I ever catch you putting your hands on Maxie again, you will regret it."_

_He reared back in barely concealed mirth. Swat her away like a gnat and move on with the rest of his busy day. He chuckled but not in glee. _

"_Is that a threat?"_

"_No I'm flirting… Yeah it's a threat, you mess with Maxie, you mess with me…"_

_He cleared his throat. Her snide attempt at joking, at keeping up with him failed, he had her number and it was all he could do to suppress laughter. Time to dismiss her and send her running back to the enemy. _

"_I'll make you a deal then…"_

_He watched her arch her brows, listening. _

"_Then nobody will mess with nobody…capiche?"_

_She stared at him speechless, essentially defanged as he returned back to his office and closed the door. He returned to his research on his computer and brought up another file. He clicked on a photo and dossier attached and focused on it, shutting everything else out._

* * *

**General Hospital**

Alexis tried to relax on a worn sofa in the waiting room of GH, where she spent so much of her time these days. Sam had been nervously pacing, the wiry strong woman fading as the weeks spent fighting for her son's life took its toll. She'd finally walked off to check on Danny before heading to talk to Silas about the results of Franco's DNA test.

"My grandson's life could depend on that sick freak…"

Alexis listened to the angst in her daughter's voice and then watched as her youngest Molly, who'd put on a brave front crumbled in front of her eyes. Sweeping her in her arms, she listened to what Molly told her.

Life had sorely tested her family but they'd remain strong, she'd make sure of that. Even the ripple effects of what she'd shared about Sam's father. Not that she'd remembered much about him and the night she'd conceived her daughter…and the embarrassment, no shame of not being able to provide more details to Sam…still haunted her.

She didn't even remember the man's name. Molly had given her an initial, the letter "J" from of all places a Ouija board, which meant nothing right? Still she held onto that because it was all she had, her memories failing her when she needed them.

A faceless man with messy hair and a leather jacket. Not much to help her find him in time to save her…their grandson's life.

She picked up a copy of the newspaper, seeing the latest chapter of the Quartermaine saga on the cover. Something about a pivotal vote due to take place soon involving the latest power struggle on its corporate board.

Ava Jerome's name again. During her brief tenure in PC, she'd managed to weave herself into the fabric of its undercurrent. Her interest in the Q Empire couldn't be casual…but she didn't give it or her much thought.

The more ordinary world had slowed nearly to a halt for her once Danny took ill. Still as she casually leafed through the tabloid style newspaper, she caught up on some of the more lurid episodes. The new publisher obviously had his spin on the news in this town.

Sam had tossed out the idea of approaching Connie at the newspaper to do an article on Danny's bone marrow drive. So far, she hadn't ventured over to the headquarters at the MC to talk to Sonny's latest girlfriend.

There had been rumors that the newspaper's circulation had fallen since Todd's departure as publisher. Some media mogul from New York City had snapped it up for a song in the past month. She hadn't caught his name.

Not that it mattered, her focus remained elsewhere.

**Metro Court **

_Derek leaned back in his desk, listening to Ava lecture him on the importance of their plan to retake the Jerome family territory, now dominated by Sonny's organization._

_He'd reminded her that she had to wait until he approved her plans before carrying them out. She'd bristled at that but after the ELQ debacle…._

_Connie had promised him the story of the year to save Crimson from being shut down and her employees from being thrust on the unemployment lines. She cared deeply for her fashion magazine, an angle successfully used against her as his pawn of choice this week._

_The reality that he played one of Sonny's own molls for the cause made it all the sweeter. He had shut the file open on his desk to deal with his younger sister._

_Her bloodthirstiness didn't shock him anymore. He listened to her discuss her involvement with the Qs as if it'd been a success…even as it had crumbled around her. No matter, he had his fix in place and Connie had proven to be key though she didn't know it yet._

_Move a few pieces around the board, getting them into position. He'd found his queen already and Ava didn't need to know that. Some things were best kept close to the chest…_

_He didn't trust this sister any more than he had the other. When Ava had chosen to reinvent herself years ago, she'd borrowed from her own family…the one she'd discovered and embraced._

_They circled each other while plotting strategy until the one person stormed into their midst who'd change everything…_

* * *

**General Hospital **

Alexis prepared to make her rounds to Kelly's and the Floating Rib among other hangouts in PC to talk people into getting tested for the bone marrow drive. Sam had headed off to the MC to talk to Connie about running an article, promoting it.

She wouldn't return without a commitment from her. Alexis had watched her daughter carefully after Silas had told them that though Franco was a match…he'd never be able to donate his marrow to Danny.

Too risky…given the cancer cells lingering in his blood from his own illness. So the drive was back on in earnest.

Damn, Alexis had pinned her hopes on the sociopathic killer, far more than she'd realized until Silas' news delivered in that clinical fashion of his destroyed their hopes. Sam recovered quickly enough to move onto her next strategic step…to get the word out on the donor drive.

Alexis would do her part. She'd make the rounds, talk to Mac at his eatery to help her get the word out even further.

Somehow between her and Sam and all of them, they'd find the means, the match to save Danny's life. She'd failed in remembering enough about Sam's father to save her grandson's life. She'd find another way.

Fate as it turned out had other plans.


	3. Chapter 3

**August 2013**

Alexis stopped to pick her and Sam up some breakfast at Kelly's Diner before the morning rush. She hadn't bothered to change her clothes and she knew she smelt of barbecue sauce from the Floating Rib which she left a couple of hours ago.

She'd had a basket of them but she'd been too preoccupied to eat more than a couple washed down by her Scotch on the Rocks. Relaxing had been on her mind as well as trying to stir up more interest in the bone marrow drive for Danny…but a man there had stirred up her ire until Mac separated the two of them.

Derek Wells, the new publisher of the town newspaper and Crimson magazine.

He'd told her he'd bumped the bone marrow drive off the front page of his precious rag. It'd probably wound up between the horoscopes and crosswords after the latest scandal involving ELQ ha replaced it.

Damn him for that. Danny needed a donor match like yesterday and when Franco's test had turned up cancer cells, it'd crushed both her and Sam. The article, it'd given them both hope and when Sam told her that he'd agreed to run it front and center…they'd felt that the tide might be turning.

"You know the donor drive is meaningless if the word doesn't get out…"

She'd told him that once he dashed her hopes…and that of Sam, an act of cruelty the way she saw it. The look in his eyes then…almost made her take her words back. But she'd always back her family first…even as he apologized to her.

She apologized back to him, her eyes downward before bringing them back up to his face.

"I just should have realized it's not realistic for me to think that one man could save my grandson's life…"

The woman at the counter took her order and she waited, thinking back to Derek. He'd approached her with some lousy pickup line and had been called on it by Mac. She smiled at her friend's protectiveness when it came to her, not that she needed it.

Still it'd been nice…and she'd bit back a smile when Mac had asked Derek if he were going to ask her for her astrological sign next. Whatever Derek's interest in her…she had no time for it…her focus was entirely on doing what it took to save her grandson's life.

"Hey Alexis…"

She glanced up and saw Olivia walk up to her by the counter.

"Hi Olivia…"

Sonny's latest mafia moll on deck, just in case he got tired of Kate…Connie or whatever she went by. The woman looked beautiful in her green dress but she'd been exactly the way Sonny liked his women, passive, devoted and prone to hysterics.

"How's Danny?"

Alexis sighed.

"He's still waiting for a bone marrow match. The chemo didn't work…it's his only hope."

"I read about the drive in the Press this morning," Olivia said, "I hope a lot of people read it and turn out."

Alexis narrowed her eyes.

"I hadn't seen it…it was supposed to be on the front page but Derek Wells, the publisher bumped it."

Olivia frowned.

"The man's a mook….a total jerk and he's driving Connie crazy…she wrote the front page story and he pushed her hard on it. Said he'd shut down Crimson if she didn't do it."

Alexis furrowed her brow. Olivia's words didn't fit with the man she'd met last night.

"He told me he bumped the story…I lit into him for it and he wound up apologizing."

Olivia's eyes widened.

"Really? He apologized?"

Alexis nodded.

"Then he offered to buy me a drink."

"Wow…I guess everyone has a moment when they're different but man, he just was not very nice to me…and Connie…she's completely stressed out from his ultimatums."

Alexis shrugged as the woman handed her two egg and ham and toast specials to go along with freshly squeezed orange juices.

"All I can say is that I was hard on him last night and he didn't push back like I thought he might…and he ran the story…that'll help even if it's not on the front page."

Olivia sniffed.

"I still think he's a jackass…"

Alexis took the bags of food and left Kelly's eager to get to GH and check on her family. She didn't know what to think of Derek but that wasn't her word of choice.

* * *

Derek ordered room service as he got out of bed and headed to the shower. Afterward, he got dressed and read his own newspaper.

Connie had come through on the Q story but then he'd made sure she couldn't back out. Sure enough she'd gotten cold feet but the fix was in place. Everyone in PC would get the latest news about what had gone down with the fraudulent vote.

Ava no doubt would be pissed but he'd been irate at having to bail her…bail the both of them out before she tanked their long-term plans. He knew he'd be hearing from her before long.

She hadn't been the woman he'd been thinking of when he woke up this morning. That fiery brunette with the most amazing pair of eyes that tore through him had been there instead.

Alexis Davis.

Not exactly as he'd pictured her. He'd hid his surprise when she'd given him her name after he dropped those lines on her. The man behind the bar who'd stepped in between them more than once had believed he was hitting on her.

Only she really had looked familiar to him…in ways he couldn't explain or understand. He'd seen her while sipping his beer and been compelled to go talk to her. Buy her a drink, get to know her…he'd done that with women before but those eyes…they captivated him.

Once she discovered he was Derek Wells, she'd smiled at him because of the article. She'd resembled the vibrant young woman who'd strode uninvited into his office and blown past his defenses and territorialism.

She'd left his office a few minutes later, unnerved and already committed to doing the article on the drive.

Then Connie had come through for him…the major story had hit the press and the ripple effect no doubt was being felt citywide.

But damn if he felt like a heel right now…that last look Alexis gave him before he went back to his corner remained with him since.

He had no time for any sentimental side of him that remained after he'd carved that part away from him like useless flesh, honing the parts of himself he'd use to obtain his objective. Best to stop thinking about her and her daughter Sam Morgan and keep his eye on the plan.

Yet he couldn't stop…not even when his breakfast arrived.

Sam had hit him hard when she asked him if he had children. Alexis…well he just couldn't figure out how he knew her. He'd run through his past, both of them and her role in either one…nothing.

No matter they were just people he'd bumped into, who didn't factor into his…no Julian Jerome's master plan to retake his family's territory in grand style.

Best he just forget about them.

* * *

Alexis gazed down at her grandson as he slept. His fingers curled around a fold in his blanket, his chest moving up and down with each breath. He'd struggled to breathe the most recent time Sam had rushed him to GH but the medications prescribed to him had relieved his discomfort caused by the leukemia trying to squeeze the life out of him.

The Cassadine Curse. Kristina, her middle daughter had taken sick too from a similar illness and had needed a bone marrow transplant.

She stroked his body with her fingers, soothingly. Sam had gone to talk to Ellie about the drive…Mac and Felicia would be dropping by later…he'd said something about them getting a marriage license from City Hall.

Today just had to be the day when the donor match would be found for Danny. Sam looked so weary when Alexis brought her breakfast this morning.

Her heart broke again for her daughter….

Ellie had announced that the latest batch of donors had been tested and not one of them had been a match. But since they had exhausted the roster of blood relatives, the Qs and the known Cassadines, they'd been left pinning their hopes on the much steeper odds of friends and strangers.

1 in 50,000. Silas had told them more than once.

God…that still meant that in a town the size of PC maybe there were one or two people out there, needles in a large haystack who might be able to save Danny.

But there had been one name unmentioned. Sam's father. A man named Julian who existed out there who as she told Mac could have a whole slew of relatives who could be donor matches. If only her memory hadn't betrayed her…if only she hadn't had so much to drink that night years ago. Still, even if she knew more about him…how on earth would they find him in time?

She'd give anything, her soul included to be able to know his last name. Then maybe Sam or Spinelli could search for him, against a ticking clock.

But nothing…no matter how much she tried to remember…even hypnosis had only revealed so much…grudgingly. She still didn't remember anything about him beyond the messy hair, his leather jacket and his smile.

Nothing that could save Danny's life.

* * *

Ava hissed at Derek even after tearing him into that article he'd published exposing her daughter as not being a Q after all. Her family business had been splashed all over the front page of her brother's tabloid for all of PC to read over breakfast.

She'd felt betrayed, then rebuked him for treating her like a child when they were equal partners in this plan.

Derek had listened to her diatribe, the iciness of her eyes contrasting with the twisted emotions on her face. Her manicured nails pointing at him, berating him and Connie for what they'd done. She'd hinted at a secret that put fear on her face but wouldn't spill it to him.

No matter he had his own secrets too. While she railed at him, he thought of her again. The woman in the bar who'd taken him to task for bumping the story about her grandson…but as defensive as he'd felt, he understood her. Family mattered to Alexis more than anything and she'd protect them against anything.

He hated being challenged unless by a worthy foe. He had the strong feeling he'd just met one.

"Are you listening to me Julian? How would you do this to me, your own sister?"

Hurt laced her voice but anger dominated her face. The look in her eyes, murderous. He took a step backward behind his desk.

"Ava…I did what needed to be done. ELQ was your project, not mine."

She sneered.

"You're too busy playing the publishing magnate. I mean actually doing a story on a bone marrow drive for that impertinent woman's son."

He rolled his eyes.

"One day's circulation in a dying newspaper…"

She folded her arms.

"We need to keep our agenda on track…you need to keep your focus older brother."

He fiddled with papers on his desk.

"I will little sister…I've been working on this plan for years…it's been my primary focus…"

He didn't want to explain what those two women he'd encountered randomly around town had done to him.

Understanding it himself proved impossible. He watched as his sister finally left him in a huff. After watching her scorch the carpet with her exit, he idly picked up the paper and flipped to the back cover.

Not for the first time, he read the story again. The one about the little boy fighting for his life…all he needed was the right bone marrow.

He sighed, putting down the newspaper knowing what he had to do.


End file.
